Embattled rapper and hip-hop mogul Sean âDiddyâ Combs has been hit with charges amid a long-running federal sex-trafficking probe, federal prosecutors said.
Combs, 54, was arrested at the Park Hyatt New York in Manhattan on Monday night — some six months after the feds raided his mansions in Los Angeles and Miami as part of the investigation.
Combs was hit with federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to the three-count indictment unsealed early Tuesday.
The fallen music mogul was also expected to be hauled before a Manhattan federal judge on the charges.
The mogul “for decades ⦠abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” the indictment said.“To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
Just hours before his Monday arrest, Combs had been photographed strolling around the Big Apple with his son Christian âKingâ Combs.
His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said the star had voluntarily traveled to the city in anticipation of his apprehension — despite calling the decision an “unjust prosecution.”
Combs’ arrest comes after he was hit with a flurry of lawsuits in the past year by people who allege he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse during the height of his fame as a producer in the 1990s and 2000s.
He was first accused of a years-long pattern of domestic and sexual violence â and even trafficking â against his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, in a federal lawsuit she filed against him last November.
While the case was quickly settled out of court, a wave of other lawsuits alleging sex assault followed â all of which heâs strongly denied. Â
Combs has previously claimed that those suing him were just âlooking for a quick pay day.â
Meanwhile, his lawyer said the rapper was “disappointed” by the recent indictment.
âSean âDiddyâ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the black community,â Agnifilo said in the wake of Combs’ arrest.
âHe is an imperfect person but is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges,” he continued.
“Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.â
The post Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs slapped with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy as bombshell charges unsealed in NYC court appeared first on New York Post.
